The One With “The Fiction of Our Fathers”

I like Xenophanes. I like a guy that can boldly question the established religious systems of his time. I myself, having transitioned throughout my life from Christian, to agnostic, to atheist, identify with this. Sure we didn’t end up at the same thought, but Xenophanes suggests an alternative to what he had, presumably, learned growing up regarding the gods and the cosmos. One can imagine little Xenophanes with his parents in the temple learning about Zeus and his adventures and one might wonder what led him to question the theological facts of his time. Was his theological journey of belief similar to mine? How much of a difference does two thousand years make to the mind of a curious, questioning child?

One bit of the reading that stuck out to me was the point that if other animals like horses or oxen had the means to do so, they would draw and imagine a god that was a horse/ox in their image (Curd 34). This is something that has bothered me for a long time. The anthropocentric view imposed upon gods by most religions is nonsensical. The Greeks imagined and depicted Zeus as humanoid (when he isn’t otherwise occupied turning into an eagle and raping women). Many modern Christian depictions of God are of a humanoid guy with a robe, flowing white beard, and a fierce browline. The Bible says that God created man in his image. But why? Why do humans consider themselves so special? With every other form of life known to man, humans still have a complex with being unique and chosen. The fact that a random philosopher from thousands of years ago was asking the same questions is curious. The fact that it is still an issue is curiouser still.